If you go HERE you can sign up for the La Victoria rewards program, where you enter codes to get coupons. If you enter enough codes, you can print a $4/2 coupon, making these a moneymaker. In addition, I was able to print the coupons 6 times per computer!! For some starter codes, you can go HERE. (In the area where it asks where item was purchased, choose "No Purchase" allowing you to enter the freebie codes listed on the blog)

Also, if you haven't used your $5/5 Healthy Choice ecoupon, use it this week! The Healthy Choice meals are on sale for $1.88. :)

I finally made it to Kroger today, bummed that I missed out on the Sundown bogo but the snowstorm kept me away. Anyway, did pretty good. I had planned to use the Sundown for a little overage and some Nature's Bounty for overage, but I forgot the NB q's. oh well. I also was able to use almost all of the rest of a gift card we got as a "holiday bonus" from Doug's company. A $20 gift card to Kroger. I did miscount and bought 81 items, instead of 80, so I might return one of the boxes of Electrasol. Haven't decided.

The guy behind me in line saw my 30 cans of tomatoes and said, so, making some chili? LOL. Luckily my grandfather eats canned-stewed tomatoes with dinner every night, so I stocked them up for a while. (Hey, he's 87 years old, so maybe those tomatoes are doing something!)

The way internet searches work- advertisers pay for higher placement in the food chain (um, search chain) for their sites to show up first. So Google or Yahoo, or MSN, or...whatever search engine you're using is getting paid by the advertisers to show those sites in a higher placement.

Instead of letting those guys get paid, why not earn some bucks yourself? Swagbucks took that idea and ran with it. There are loads of fun gifts you can earn, but the faves are the gift cards, Amazon being the top of the list. And a new item you can earn bucks for is "Paypal cash", so yes, real dollars.

I mainly use the Swagbucks search engine on my toolbar and earn a few bucks a day, nothing spectacular, but those babies do add up and I had quite a few Amazon gift cards at Christmas-time which I had saved to buy Christmas gifts. There's nothing like getting free money to buy gifts for your kids. :)

There are lots of other ways to earn Swagbucks if you have the time, and the site tells you all about it (and there are lots of bloggers swagging, so if you "swag it" you will find other codes and such you can input to get bucks). But I do HIGHLY recommend downloading and using the toolbar to search as that's a quick way to earn a few bucks a day.

ORIf you have Nature's Bounty ip's from HERE, get yourself some overage on Nature's Bounty to lower oop, and do something like this... (I'm not sure exactly what the cheapest NB products are, but I'm guessing $4.99, might be cheaper)

I am starting with a whole bunch of rr's, but I have $10 ones from Pepsi deal and Nyquil deal (I think? I forget lol) and my DH loves the Joint Juice, and I want to try the lip gloss. So here's what's on my list.

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

DENIED! Bummer, the coupon is for $20 off strips wyb a monitor. Rats! Hope some of you still have the $30 q's for this awesome super duper deal! Starts Sunday!

You heard it here first ;)

Rumors are floating that there may be some sort of Bayer Monitor coupon in the paper this Sunday!! I'm dying to know if it's the one we've all come to love, ESPECIALLY since Sunday starts the $10mm deal at Walgreens!!! If anyone can get early papers, and finds out there's a $30 coupon in the Sunday paper, please tell me!

(My Wags will place a special order, but I'm not ordering them unless I know I'll have q's, and I have to place the order Saturday morning before the paper comes out!)

Sunday, January 24, 2010

ETA: I've had several requests to be able to copy this post and/or link to it. That is totally fine. :) If you'd like to copy or link to my post, please just credit me when you do so. Brandy @ ipreferpublix.blogspot.com

One of the things that bugs me the most about being a couponer is that people (and by people I mean, cashiers, managers, other customers) think I am getting away with something, ripping off the store, cheating the system, some even say I am stealing. And it makes me furious.

This attitude comes from a lack of knowledge about how coupons work. If you're here reading my blog, you probably know how coupons work. Here's a quick reminder for all of us...

Manufacturer's coupons: When the stores submit these to the clearinghouse, they are reimbursed FULL FACE VALUE plus $.08 per coupon. So the store makes MORE money by accepting your coupon than by the average shopper handing over cash/credit.*If a coupon is difficult to read/scan at the fault of the manufacturer/design, the store can charge the manufacturer even more for the handling of these q's.*Most Clearinghouses are huge conveyor belts that scan coupons to tally the reimbursement value, so that cashier that agrees to "give it to you for free, shouldn't that be enough?" by marking your $1 coupon down to $.75? Just made $.25 for the store. That huge scanner doesn't pay a single inkling to that little $.75 the cashier wrote on your coupon.*Stores even get reimbursed postage for the cost of shipping the coupons to the clearinghouse.

Doubling/Tripling coupons: A gimmick to get you in the door. The store eats the cost of doubles/triples. They consider it worthwhile if it causes you to shop there rather than at... Wal-Mart.

Competitor Coupons: This is truly a loss for a store. There is no reimbursement value for competitor coupons. Like doubling/tripling, accepting competitor coupons is a gimmick to get you in the doors to buy all your other items at their store rather than the competitor. Stores that accept competitor coupons are using a brilliant marketing strategy. They are counting on you wanting to buy all your items in one place, and hoping that if you have a competitor's coupon that you can use at their store, you'll stick around for the other things as well.

Store Coupons: Store coupons are a little tricky to define. Let's take Publix as an example. Regular Publix shoppers will notice that those Advantage Buy Flyers have coupons and sales that rotate on a regular basis. One that appears often is the $6/2 Sundown Vitamins coupon. The CEO of Publix may be a nice guy, but he's not browsing the local store looking for things to give away. I promise. :) What happens is, some head honcho at Sundown gets together with some head honcho at Publix and they strike a deal. The value could be based on number of coupons redeemed, or number of stores that run the sale. Specifically for Publix, the most recent numbers show that Publix is getting reimbursed approximately 75-80% of the Store coupons' face value. So don't let anyone say to you "Publix doesn't get reimbursed for these" "We can't give it to you for free" "We can't pay you to take it". Because that shows lack of knowledge of how these q's work.

BOGO deals (Publix): You may not be aware of this, but like the store coupons, sales like the Mega sales at Kroger and BOGO sales at Publix are also marketing ploys that are reimbursed by the manufacturer! If Publix is selling Scrubbing Bubbles BOGO at $3.99/ea, that means, you, the consumer, will pay half price for the item, or $2.00. At the end of the sale, Publix tells Johnson and Johnson, hey, we sold 100 bottles of Scrubbing Bubbles, costing us $199, now pony up. And Johnson and Johnson PAYS Publix for running the special and promoting the product. It is another form of advertising. Most recent numbers show that BOGO sales at Publix are reimbursed at approximately 70-80%.

ETA: It occurred to me I failed to mention rainchecks. Rainchecks are another loss for a store. The store is reimbursed the difference of the sale to the store, but if a raincheck is issued, the store is the one to eat the cost when you do use the raincheck. The manufacturer will cover the "deal" for the week the item is on sale, but the store is responsible for keeping the items in stock. If a store has to issue a raincheck, then the amount of discount given is lost since it is beyond the sale week. This is a reason you will have limits enforced on rainchecks.

It makes me crazy that people have this mindset that people who use coupons are abusing the system. I hate that. As long as you are an honest couponer, using legit coupons and following the store rules, then you are doing no such thing. Abuse comes from illegal photocopies, stacking two manufacturer coupons on one item, and so forth. That is true abuse of the system. Most of us? We are just honest people looking for a good deal.

And in the end? The store wins. The store wins BIG by catering to couponers. Let me show you what I mean. . .

When I shop at Publix, I use the trick of buying multiple moneymakers to build up overage to afford the items I need. This helps reduce my out of pocket expense. Do I need 10 bottles of Aleve? 8 Rolls of J&J gauze? 10 boxes of Phazyme? Not right at the moment, and I certainly wouldn't walk into Publix and pay for all of that with cash. So Publix makes a higher profit by selling to me than the average person who runs in for a few things.

For this scenario, we'll go with an 80% return on BOGOs and store q's.So, for this trip, after reimbursement, the store will have received approximately $288.50, losing $38.20 in store coupons, doubles and BOGOs.

BUT If I wasn't a couponer, and only bought the items I needed/wanted, and we're assuming I am still stockpiling... The store would have made $120.62, losing $17.60 in store coupons, BOGOs and doubles.

When I shopped, I cost them $20.60, but I brought in an additional $167.88.

Now. Which stores was it that wanted to turn away the couponers????

*Disclaimer: I worked as a budget/price analyst for four years for a Publishing company, saving my company more than $1.5 million in residual effects in a single year, so I am pretty darn good with numbers.

I went to Kroger today to spot out some of the mega items. I haven't got EVERYTHING listed here, just the things i thought were either decent deals or items people seem to always buy. :)

Hope this helps some others that aren't in the Southeast region! Our prices seem to be either higher or lower, but not the same.

If you see any deals I missed in our area, please post 'em! I didn't type up my whole list, but I have it sitting here so if there's anything specific you're wondering about, I might know, so feel free to ask. :)

Ongoing moneymakers and freebies, NOT mega items:Healthy Choice Meals (prices vary, starting at $2.07)-$5/5 mq ip (no longer available)-$1/2 mq ip HERE-$5/5 Kroger ecard sign up and load HERE=use the $5/5 paper coupon, if you have it, to get five $2.07 meals for $.35 with the ecoupon. If you don't have it, print two of the $1/2 coupons and use those along with the ecoupon to get 5 for $1.35

Rolaids 3pk $1.69-$4/2 mq 1.3.10 RP (this one excludes "trial size" and will beep for the three-pack, but I don't consider this a trial size, and have not had a problem using it on these)=$.61 over per two

Sundown Vitamins (prices vary) BOGO(i.e.) Folic Acid $2.89-$2/1 mq (regional our area did not get these- you can buy on EBay)=$.55 over~If you happen to know of a Kroger that takes Publix store coupons as competitor q's, this could be a HUGE moneymaker with the Publix $6/2 from the current Green Adv Buy Flyer

Nature's Bounty (prices vary) BOGO(i.e.) Magnesium $3.89-$5/1 mq printable (see how to earn these HERE)=$3.10 over~There are also $3/1 and $2/1 q's you can earn here. All these will give you a mm on these vitamins.

Saturday, January 23, 2010

More more moneymakers (As always with Rite Aid, YMMV as to how coupon friendly your store is)

Ester-C and Nature's Bounty are bogo this week.Both have video Value coupons available, $1/1There is a $5/1 Ester-C coupon (regional) and of course, the Nature's Bounty ip's available in $2/1, $3/1 and $5/1 values.

So... snag a few of those and use a $5/20 and then get the things you need, like milk, bread, diapers, etc.It is also worth it to note that there will be a new SCR beginning with the Feb SCR's (starting tomorrow for some reason?) That if you buy $50 of certain products, you get a $25 Rite Aid gift card, and if you buy $25, you get a $5 (or maybe it's ten?) gift card (sorry for the lack of details, I haven't seen the SCR book, I'm going by what I've seen posted elsewhere. I'll post the deets tomorrow when I have it in hand)At any rate, one of the products is Nature's Bounty! So...if you buy $50 in NB products, you get a $25 gift card. sweet. Talk about a moneymaker.

You can repeat this transaction, or adjust as needed, adding NB vitamins, or pricier vitamins, or the $5/1 NB coupon to build up a $50 spending in NB vitamins and earn the $25 Rite Aid gift card!!

Then...if you buy things you need that happen to be P&G products, you can also build up enough for the P&G Visa Card, SCR#551 (Spend $25, get a $5 Visa card; Spend $50, get a $15 gift card; Spend $100, get a $25 gift card)

Several people have commented that they don't have a problem with the changes and they really don't see what the big deal is. Let me see if I can explain why I am so upset by the limits.

1. This new policy really affects two groups of people.

First are the people who are limited in their shopping trips that may live in rural areas, or only have one vehicle in their family, or have a large family and can't drag them all to the store 5 times a week. These people are limited in the trips they can make to the store and can't go running all over the place to do their shopping.

Second are people who stockpile and extreme coupon. This group of people buy large quantities of items when they are on sale so they don't have to buy items at full price when they need it.

Let's look at these two groups. Ironically, these are the groups that Publix has been targeting recently with all their new marketing (seen those billboards that say "publix.com/bogo" ? Yeah.) What Publix is really known for is their high prices. They have recently spent a lot of marketing money trying to target people trying to save money- and these people are exactly the groups they will run right back out the door by limiting deals. These are the people who are bulk buying and using a lot of coupons buying sale items. These are the people who were previously shopping at Super-Wal-Mart and Aldi's, Sam's and Costco trying to save money.

From a business standpoint, Publix is shooting themselves in the foot.

2. Publix stores do not have a loyalty card. This means they don't have the ability to enforce the limits like a Harris Teeter does. A shopper could easily go to four different stores to buy all the limits at each store to get the bulk that they want...if they have the time and inclination to go to four other stores. This also means that if the whole point of this is to try to prevent shelf clearing (which I'm not totally convinced IS the point, but I'll know more when I speak to the DM), it won't work. Let me show you a scenario.

Kraft dressing is bogo. Sue and Janet both want to buy 20 bottles of dressing, but their store will only let them buy 12 each. Both of these ladies live near Store A and Store B. Sue normally shops at Store A and Janet normally shops at Store B.Prior to the new limits, Sue would have bought her 20 bottles at Store A along with the rest of her items, likewise, Janet would have bought her 20 bottles at Store B, leaving each store out 20 bottles.But they can't do that now, and they both really want 20 bottles of dressing. So instead of each of them buying their 20 bottles at one store each, now Sue goes to Store A, buys 10 bottles, then heads over to Store B to buy the other ten.Janet, when she goes out, goes to Store B, buys her ten bottles, then makes the trip to Store A to get the other ten.Guess what the outcome is? Yes, the same as before, both stores are out 20 bottles.Only now, both Sue and Janet are a little frustrated because they had to take an extra hour out of their day to get the items they wanted and should have been able to buy in one stop.

The stores are still in the same situation and all they have done is frustrated their customers.

So it simply doesn't make sense. Because eventually, the customers are going to tire of the shenanigans and just run to Super Wal-Mart, or one of the myriad other stores that have lower prices.

3. Sure, the store has the right to make these changes and I have the right to shop elsewhere. My intention in posting the contact info, and saying that if these new policies upset you to contact them, is that the only way changes get made is by retailers/businesses hearing from consumers. If we just take it and go on then nothing will change. In telling them that their new policies could cause me to shop elsewhere, I am informing the store that they are perhaps not making as good of a decision as they thought, especially if dozens of people call to complain.

4. The customer can still get "around" the limits by going to multiple stores, but for people like me, who drive two hours to shop at Publix, I don't have the luxury of being able to shop at multiple stores or on multiple days. I shop one day at one store. So this limit really hurts me. Once it stops being worth the gas money I spend to get there I will no longer shop there. I am not the only one.

5. If I want to get more than the limit of an item, I have to explain why to a manager and see if it's ok. I shouldn't have to defend my need to purchase an item to my local grocery store. It's invasive. I should be able to walk into the store, buy what I need and go on with my day.

**I will be approving comments from Nashville-local shoppers for this post as it doesn't apply to other areas. Thanks.

Thursday, January 21, 2010

Some changes have been made district-wide and some are ludicrous IMO. I would recommend contacting Publix HERE to complain if you're unhappy with the changes.

First: Competitors are now considered retail outlets within a THREE mile radius. This means each Publix store will have different competitors, but many will no longer consider Food Lion and Whole Foods a competitor since they are few and far between.IMO: A competitor to Publix is REALLY any store in the Nashville area since most people do not shop at grocery stores that are within three miles of their house. These days, people will drive for a deal, so many stores, no matter how far, five miles? ten miles? will still be a competitor to them.

Second: There is now a limit of the quantity of deals per item that you can buy. Limit: 6 deals. Yes, you read that right. 6 deals per person. This goes for bogo deals and Adv. Buy flyer deals. This is a bit ridiculous IMO. Yes, sure, I may not need 12 bottles of Windex, but to limit my baby food bogo to 12 jars?? 12 jars will feed my son for two days. So now I need to shop every other day just to feed my son for a week? Silly. This also means 6 like-coupon deals per person (like the green advantage buy flyer).

Third: Two coupons per item purchased. One Manufacturer's coupon and one "store" coupon, be it Publix or competitor.

In addition, our favorite store, Maryland Farms, is getting nailed to the wall by the other stores and upper management for the high volume of coupons coming through their store.

This is seriously backwards. Coupons are profit. They are money. Instead of looking at MF and saying, how can we fix this? They should be looking at MF and saying "What are they doing RIGHT?? and how can we duplicate this in other stores". Because those people spending hundreds of dollars in coupons when they shop are spending money, buying products and paying Pubilx' paycheck.

I am pretty irritated, but more so at the fact that Publix can't seem to understand that this store is doing things RIGHT and should be commended, rather than acting as if they are doing things incorrectly.

If you feel as I do, please, please contact corporate and tell them how you feel about these new policies, and how much you love MF store and appreciate the fact that they understand that coupons are money and that they want your business, rather than running your business away, as other stores have been doing.

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

This is a little late, but there are a few deals at Rite Aid this week that you might want to check out.

Kraft mac and cheese is bogo and there is a B3G1 mq in the 12.13.09 SS. Makes 4 for the price of one. I'm not sure what the regular price is though...

Then there's Rebate number 551, a Proctor and Gamble SCR, where if you spend $100 on qualifying items, you get a $35 gift card. There are tons of items listed, and many of them you can work out free with the mm's and $5/20 & $5/25 q's. Buy enough and get up to $100, to get your gift card.

Then there are THESE mail-in-rebates for Olay Regenerist. Olay products are bogo50% this week at RA, making this a moneymaker on some items. There are also some Olay items on clearance, but they do NOT ring up bogo50%, they are either 50% or 75% off.

Here's a scenario:You could also to do Nature's Bounty as a mm instead of Benevia... pick and choose.

Most of the big blogs give the deals for the Southeast region, but I have found a few in OUR region so I wanted to share! Keep in mind BOGO sale items ring up half price and coupons $.50 and under will double.

Here's what I found, if you find any other good deals, please post 'em!

ETA: Free or Nearly Free: Healthy Choice Meals (prices vary, starting at $1.99)-$5/5 mq ip (no longer available)-$1/2 mq ip HERE-$5/5 Kroger ecard sign up and load HERE=use the $5/5 paper coupon, if you have it, to get five $1.99 meals for free with the ecoupon. If you don't have it, print two of the $1/2 coupons and use those along with the ecoupon to get 5 for $1

Moneymakers:Rolaids 3pk $1.69-$4/2 mq 1.3.10 RP (this one excludes "trial size" and will beep for the three-pack, but I don't consider this a trial size, and have not had a problem using it on these)=$.61 over per two

Sundown Vitamins (prices vary) BOGO(i.e.) Folic Acid $2.89-$2/1 mq (regional our area did not get these- you can buy on EBay)=$.55 over~If you happen to know of a Kroger that takes Publix store coupons as competitor q's, this could be a HUGE moneymaker with the Publix $6/2 from the current Green Adv Buy Flyer

Nature's Bounty (prices vary) BOGO(i.e.) Magnesium $3.89-$5/1 mq printable (see how to earn these HERE)=$3.10 over~There are also $3/1 and $2/1 q's you can earn here. All these will give you a mm on these vitamins.

Frees:~ETA: Wonka Gummies $1-$1/1 mq ip (no longer available?) = Free~ I originally didn't list this because I had been to two Kroger stores and neither had these tagged as sale items, but I went to a different Kroger today and it was on sale, so it might be worth price-checking if you've got any of these ip's leftover.Yakisoba $1-$.50/1 mq 1.3.10 SS, 10.18.09 SS= Free with doubles

Pillsbury Cinnamon Rolls/Grands $1-$1/1 mq ip HERE=Free~turn this into a moneymaker. buy two and load the $1/2 ecoupon HERE or HERE and you'll get the dollar overage.

Suave deodorant $1-$.50/1 mq 10.25.09 RP (ok, I just saw this expired today, but I can often use expireds at Kroger if it's just a few days- this coupon will beep though b/c it doesn't match the size, even though the coupon says ANY)= Free with doubles

Friday, January 15, 2010

I spoke with the Store Manager at MF store tonight and he indicated that there were some directives coming down from corporate regarding coupons and usage. He indicated that he suspected there would be some changes coming but he didn't have any details yet. The big meeting is Tuesday and I will know more after I speak with him then.

I do know that any stores that were previously allowing three coupons per item will no longer be allowing that effective immediately. You may use one manufacturer coupon per item and one "store" coupon per item, either Publix or competitor.

Thursday, January 14, 2010

I can't believe it! I got an email yesterday that I won the Barber chicken promotion held a few months ago- all you had to do was go to their website and enter your info...and wait. I entered...and won! They chose ten people to win a $25 Publix gift card and 12 Barber foods vouchers.

Did I mention we're vegetarians?? LOL!!! Out of all the things I have entered, I win a meat promotion! What are the odds? HA!! I'll be stocking my grandparents up on frozen chicken. :)

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

You all know that I have a favorite Publix store I shop at- the Maryland Farms location. Since the new year started, the stores in the Nashville region have received directives to make some adjustments and look into several areas of the stores. One of those areas is coupons.Maryland Farms is still my absolute favorite store to shop at and they have a superb coupon policy, but as of the beginning of the year, they will no longer take competitor q's for money off the total (like a Rite Aid $5/25) unless it is a traditional grocery store coupon, like HG Hills.

I had a long conversation with the store manager and I told him I would pass along the information to my fellow couponers in Nashville (at least those that read my blog) so ya'll aren't surprised when you go in.

Apparently the stores were told to review their coupon policies due to complaints they received at corporate (not sure who was complaining), that some people (not in our region, elsewhere) were "getting paid" to shop at Publix. I have always said that expecting the store to open the register for you, even if you're doing everything correctly, is in the wrong spirit, and sends a bad message. Now it has caused them to review coupons.

In addition, one shopper used a $30/$75 coupon (CVS? I'm not totally sure) at the MF Publix and that raised some flags.

I have unexpectedly disappeared for a few days and I am sorry! We had some issues with our electrical, resulting in all the outlets downstairs not working. Since I am the only person on the planet (it seems) without a laptop, this meant I was without computer. *gasp*!

But I'm back now! Woohoo!

And I had to tell you all about my crazy Saturday! My husband and I have not been out "on a date" since we had dinner the night we were on the way to the hospital for me to give birth to our son (who is now 14 months old). So we were overdue. I had been putting aside money here and there and grandma volunteered to watch the kids and we had a "plan". I use this term loosely, as you'll see what happened. LOL!

I apparently am now attracting coupons to me.

Our plan was to go see Avatar at the IMAX in 3D (my Mom had picked up tickets the day before, since they'd been sold out so much), then I had reservations at the Melting Pot. mmmm.

We left the kids with Grandma then booked it to the mall to see the movie. Luckily, we were about 45 minutes early. When we got there, we were informed that the IMAX was broken. Everyone with tickets could either get a refund, exchange the tickets for a later date, or for the regular movie theater (with a refund on the difference). But it was taking forever. Every person in line (and there were a lot of us) was asking the same questions, and taking ages to decide what they wanted to do. Finally the Manager came out and made an announcement, "Alright everyone, listen up! I want to get all of you into a movie, so here's what we're going to do, I am about to make you an offer you can't refuse. If you like out of town and want a refund, go over there {pointing to customer service} and get your money back. Otherwise, we're going to let you all into the regular 12:40 showing of Avatar, also in 3D, and then for each ticket you have, we'll give you TWO tickets for a later date. That's a $30 value."So, we got to see the movie in the regular theater (a difference of about $4 a ticket, to our loss), and got four tickets that we can use to see an IMAX movie free at a later date. Any movie, no restrictions. Awesome.

Then, while in the movie, I got a call on my cell. (No, I wasn't rude, it was on vibrate and went to voicemail). I checked it as we were leaving and it was the Melting Pot. The message said something like "Hi this is John at the Melting Pot. You might have heard that a water main burst on 2nd Ave and many of the restaurants are closed, but we're not! So your reservations are good, and we'll see you at 4:45". Yay.So we headed downtown. Took some maneuvering b/c apparently three water mains burst downtown and we had to go up and down a few random streets to get to the lot closest to the restaurant. We paid our $10 parking (outrageous!) and then walked in the frigid temps over to the restaurant. We were seated, ordered our yummy drinks (raspberry martini! mmmmm) and then placed our order, indulging in the four course dinner of a cheese fondue, salads, main fondue entree, and chocolate fondue.As we're eating our first course, here comes the manager. Introducing herself, then saying "Unfortunately, I have bad news. The city just came in and told us they are going to have to dig up 2nd Ave all the way from one end to the other, so they're shutting us down. We have to close in about thirty minutes. Of course you won't have to pay for any food you've gotten. We're terribly sorry about this, as it's beyond our control".So... we ate our first and second courses for free, paid for our drinks, tipped our server and then got a $20 off your next purchase coupon for the Melting Pot. (HA!) Since our drinks and (my really good tip, I felt bad for the server) cost $30, we were only in the hole $20 so far for drinks/parking. (And saved $48 on food!)

So as we left, we tried to decide where to get dinner, because we were still hungry. So we decided to head to PFChangs for some chinese. By the time we got there, they were pretty busty, so we snagged the last two seats at the bar, then got an appetizer and entree to split, Doug had a glass of wine, and after tip, we spent about $32.

All in all, after adding up what we spent and subtracting the value of our coupons we got in return, we are at $24. That's right. LOL!!! We spent $32 plus $32 plus $10 plus $30, and received back a $20 coupon and $60 in movie tickets.So instead of spending the $140ish dollars I anticipated, we almost came out ahead. (which was a good thing, since I just sent $190 on an electrician!)

Always a couponer.

My husband got a big kick out of the entire evening's antics and we just rolled with it. But we did have a great time and we need to do it more often!

Friday, January 8, 2010

BOGO Wholly Guac/Salsa coupon HERE (this one expires Sunday!)Pair this with the $1/1 printable (no longer available) form smartsource for a great deal on Wholly brand, an if you haven't tried their guacamole, it is sooooo good!

And this one...well, I'm going to try it and see. But check it out HERE: a $1 off a $10 GAS purchase at Wal-Mart fuel centers. huh. *fingers crossed* this works since this is where I fill my gas tank every week.

Week of 1.17.10, and getting ready for Superbowl, the great Pepsi/Frito-Lay deal is back!Buy $20 of Pepsi/Frito lay products and get $10rr. (This is a monthly deal, but the sale is the week of 1.17.10)

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

I feel like I need a round-up of Walgreens deals! There are so many, and more keep popping up. Many of them are monthly deals too! So let's see what we've got so far...Weekly:Nabisco crackers $.99/ea-$2/2 ip HERE=-$.02/2

**Note that this coupon WILL beep, so only try this at a coupon friendly Wags, otherwise they'll deny it.

Electrasol is a good one to throw them in and roll them nicely with other deals!

Electrasol $3.49-$2.50/1 mq 1.3.10 ss=$.99

Stayfree is super cheap, but I would recommend running to Rite Aid for these since it is a MM there! :)

Stayfree $6.99/ea-bogo mq 1.3.10 SS-$3/1 Wags in-adqx2 = $6=$.99/2

Reach toothbrushes and floss are mm's...if you can find them in stock!

Monthly:Bayerdeal: Buy 2 participating Bayer items and get $2 rr, Buy 3 items, get $6 rr.As mentioned in my previous post, there are quite a few ways to do this deal, many of them moneymakers. We know that the Breeze2 and Contour meters are separate deals, so you can do one of each as your 2 items, or 2 of your 3 items.

Phillips Milk of Magnesia $1.99 (2 oz.? - small bottle) {This may be a weekly price for this item, but it IS included, even though there is no tag on the item indicating that it should be included}-$1/1 10/25 rp, 1.3.10 rp=$.99

Nabisco: Buy 2 pariticpating items, get $2 rrThe small boxes of Chips Ahoy are working for this deal, although they are not listed to be included, so we do not know how long they will be working, but I bought some tonight and it produced the rr.

Chips Ahoy $.99 {weekly price)-no q'sBuy two and get $2 rr

Curel or Jergens: Buy 2 and get $5 rrCurel Therapy Foot Cream 3.5 oz is an unadvertised clearance at $2.99. Buy two with two $1/1 mq's and this is a $1 mm.

Curel Foot Therapy $2.99-$1/1 mq 12.6.09 ss (there may also have been one this past week, and check Target's printables, I think I remember there meing a manuq for Curel there as well)=$1.99

Band-Aid or Neosporin get $3 RR wyb 2/$8:

Several items are mm's with this deal, and the Neosporin lip health mq has been reset! Go HERE to print your $3/1 lip health q's.

This week, buy Aquafina for a SUPER deal! Aquafina $3.99 (with in-ad coupon, states limit 2, but ymmv, register will automatically take off all 4 when scanned, but some stores will give you a hard time about this)

Buy 4 Aquafina $ 3.99/ea**ETA** Some are reporting $1/1 peelies, so be on the lookout!!!=$15.96 (earn $10 rr, makes this $5.96 for 4 24-packs of water!)

**Some rolling scenarios**If you have a $5 Bayer rr, roll it like this:

Sunday, January 3, 2010

May or may not be working- still working this am in certain areas of Georgia for sure~~Rumor has it that the small boxes of Chips Ahoy, which are on sale for $.99, are producing rr's. Buy two @ $.99/ea and you get back a $2rr! That's free. With NO COUPONS needed!

While you're there, you might also take a peek at the clearance items and see if there are any boxes of Bayer Crystals 20ct marked @ 2.19/ea. If so, these qualify for the Bayer rr deal, where if you buy three Bayer items (Diabetic monitors included, ahem), you get $6rr. And there are q's out for these as well, so if you don't have the monitor q's, if you get three, it's dirt cheap after rr, and with q's, it's a mm. And, if you haven't tried these? They taste terrible, but are miracle-workers!! I suffer from migraines and these babies knock it right out like nothing I've ever tried.

I often see this brand of vitamin go on sale bogo at all sorts of places: drugstores, grocery stores, etc. If you go HERE and register, you can enter codes from the bottles. For each one you enter, you get 50 or 100 points. As you collect points, you collect "rewards" in the form of ... COUPONS! When you collect 500 points, you can print a $5/1 coupon!! The limit is 6, so keep hitting your back button.

With a bogo sale, and a $2.99/bottle (or in that neighborhood), and two $5/1 coupons, you've got yourself a moneymaker!

I know for a fact I've seen these bogo at Walgreens, CVS, Kroger and Rite Aid.

Got2Be Hair care $5.99 bogo-$3/1 Rite Aid Video Values coupon=Free for two wyb 2 and use two VV coupons~This deal is interesting- it's the first VV coupon to specifically state LIMIT TWO PER CUSTOMER- so you can use two coupons, purchase two, get them both free, but you may only buy two.

Now, here's how you turn freebies into moneymakers: Go get a $5/25 from redplum.com or a $5/20 from Video Values and purchase enough to get to the $15 (or $20, depending on which coupon is used), then get $5 of things you need. Pay only tax for all items.

Plus, with the new Game of Life game going on at Rite Aid, beginning today, you get a game piece for each transaction as well as one for each "specially purchased" product. Nivea being one of those. (But the ones that are free with store sale don't count)

So, I bought12 Nivea lip care @ 2.99 bogo3 20oz Mt Dew @1.49/ea

Used$5/206 bogo Nivea coupons

Paid $1.60 oop

received 9 Game of Life pieces (and some good coupons!) 6 for Nivea and 3 for Mt Dew.

Friday, January 1, 2010

Time to stock up on Electrasol again with the great $2.50 q coming out this week!

Electrasol tabs $3.49, earn $1rr-use $2.50q 1/3 ss=Free after rr

Neosporin 2/$8 monthly megasaver price-$1/1 mq 1/3/10 (use 2 q's = $2)-$2/1 Wags Activiy Book q (x2 = $4)=$2 oop~Earn $3rr, making this a $1mm!**In-Adq is for the 1oz size so it will not work for the one that is on megasaver. Boo. :(

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